Method and system for providing interim discontinuous reception/transmission

Abstract

A method, terminal device, network element, system and computer program product for controlling discontinuous reception or transmission at a terminal device of a communication network are disclosed. A regular discontinuous reception or transmission cycle of a regular discontinuous reception or transmission scheme is set by using a first control layer, and in addition thereto a shorter temporary discontinuous reception or transmission cycle of an interim discontinuous reception or transmission scheme can be set by using a second control layer. This arrangement provides long discontinuous reception or transmission cycles for power consumption improvements while at the same time ensuring that the network can easily and flexibly shorten these cycles for increased data throughput, if needed.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention, according to various embodiments, relates to communications, and particularly, to controlling reception or transmission in a terminal device of a communication network.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Discontinuous reception (DRX) is a method used in communication networks to conserve battery energy of terminal devices, e.g., mobile devices or user equipments (UE). The UE and the network negotiate phases in which data transfer happens. During other times the device turns its receiver off and enters into a low-power state. On the other hand, discontinuous transmission (DTX) is a method of momentarily powering-down, or muting, a terminal device, e.g., a mobile or portable terminal, when there is no input data to the terminal device. This optimizes the overall efficiency of a wireless voice communications system.[0003]One major aspect affecting the UE stand-by time is the possibility to inactivate the UE receiver circuitry. In the Universal Mo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]Therefore, there is a need to provide a method and system for controlling discontinuous reception (DRX) or discontinuous transmission (DTX), by means of which a very flexible DRX / DTX scheme can be achieved.

[0020]Accordingly, certain embodiments of the invention provide for long DRX or DTX periods with a possibility to flexibly change to a short interim DRX or DTX scheme. This enables fast but secure assignment of short DRX or DTX whenever seen necessary by network. Additionally, enhanced power saving capabilities are obtained in the active state of the terminal device by using long DRX or DTX cycles in the active state, while the network may fast, flexibly and secure change the DRX or DTX scheme to provide a fast and flexible increase in data throughput / flow. DRX or DTX patterns can thereby be changed in a fast manner if traffic or other conditions change. DRX or DTX cycles may thus become more irregular and faster adjustable to the data patterns of the terminal device.

[0022]The second control layer may be selected to provide faster control signaling than the first control layer. Thereby, it can be ensured that a fast switching to the interim DRX or DTX scheme is obtained. According to a specific example related to a wireless communication environment, the first control layer may be a radio resource control layer. In this or other examples, the second control layer may be a media access control layer which allows faster control signaling.

[0024]The setting of the temporary discontinuous reception or transmission cycle may be achieved by distributing predetermined interim discontinuous reception or transmission patterns and signaling a selected one to the concerned terminal device. This option allows more optimized signaling and reduced need for definitions.

[0025]As an additional option, the setting of the temporary discontinuous reception or transmission cycle may comprise indicating a next uplink or downlink resource. Thereby, the load on broadcast of ATs or the like can be reduced when the interim DRX or DTX scheme points directly to the next uplink or downlink resource.

[0026]Optionally, the interim discontinuous reception or transmission scheme may be set to be valid only for one of the regular discontinuous reception or transmission cycles. This option ensures minimal impact of possible error situations. Additionally, a fallback to the regular discontinuous transmission scheme may be initiated, if a failure has been detected in the interim discontinuous transmission scheme. Thus, synchronization between the terminal device and the network can be maintained.

Problems solved by technology

Long DRX periods though will have negative impact on the data throughput in general as the networks capability to reach the UE decreases as the DRX interval increases.

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